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CHAPTER 11

IN HONG KONG AND


MACAO
1888

The Trip to
Hong Kong

February 1888 Rizal forced to leave


his country for a second time. At the
age of 27, a practicing physician and
a recognized man-of-letters.

February 3, 1888 he left Manila for


Hong Kong on board the Zafiro.

February 7, 1888 brief stopover at


Amoy.

3 Reasons why Rizal did


not get off his ship :
He was not feeling well
It was raining hard
And he heard that the city was
dirty

February 8, 1888 Rizal arrived in Hong


Kong. He stayed at Victoria Hotel. He
was welcomed by the Filipino residents,
including ;
1. Jose Maria Basa
2. Balbino Mauricio
3. Manuel Yriarte (son of Francisco Yriarte
Alcalde Mayor of Laguna).

. February

16, 1888 He wrote a letter for


Blumentritt, expressing his bitterness.

Jose Sainz de Varanda who was a


former secretary of Governor General
Terrero, shadowed Rizals movement
in Hong Kong. It is believed that he
was commissioned by the Spanish
authorized to spy Rizal.

Visit to Macao

February 18, 1888 Rizal, accompanied


by Basa, boarded the ferry steamer KiuKiang for Macao. He was surprised to
see among the passengers a familiar
figure- Sainz de Veranda.
Don Juan Francisco Lecaros a Filipino
gentleman married to a Portuguese
lady. He was rich and spent his days
cultivating plants and flowers, many of
which came from the Philippines.
- Rizal and Basa stayed to his home
when they are in Macao.

2 days in Macao when Rizal visited ;

Theatre
Casino
Cathedral and
churches
Pagodas
Botanical Garden
Bazaars
Grotto of Camoens,
Portugals national
poet.

In the evening,
February 19, he
witnessed a Catholic
procession, in which
the devotees were
dressed in blue and
purple dresses and
were carrying
unlighted candles.

February 20, 1888 Rizal and Basa


returned to Hong Kong again on board
the ferry steamer Kiu- Kiang.

February 22, 1888 Rizal left Hong Kong


on board the Oceanic, an American
steamer. His destination was Japan.
- he did not like the meals on board, but
he liked the ship because it was clean
and efficiently managed.

- his cabin mate was a British


Protestant missionary who had lived
in China for 27 years and knew the
Chinese language very well. Rizal
called him a good man
Other passengers, with whom Rizal
conversed in their own languages,
2 Portuguese
2 Chinese
Several British, and American woman
Protestant missionary.

Experiences in
Hong Kong

Rizal studied Chinese life, language,


drama, and customs.
He wrote down in his own diary the
following experiences :

1. Noisy celebration of the Chinese New


Year which lasted Feb 11th (Saturday) to
13th (Monday). Continuous explosions of
firecrackers. The richer the Chinese, the
more firecrackers he exploded. Rizal
himself fired many firecrackers at the
window of his hotel.

2. Boisterous Chinese theatre, with noisy


audience and nosier music. In Chinese
dramatic art, Rizal observed the following :
A man astride a stick means a man riding on
horseback.
An actor raising his leg means he is entering
a house.
A red dress indicates a wedding
A girl about to be married coyly covers her
face with a fan even in the presence of her
fianc.
A man raising a whip signifies he is about to
ride a horse.

3. The marathon Lauriat party, wherein the


guests were served numerous dishes, such
as dried fruits, geese, shrimps, century eggs,
shark fins, bird nests, white ducks, chicken
with vinegar, fish heads, roasted pigs, tea,
etc. The longest meal in the worlds.
4. The Dominican Order was the richest
religious order in Hong Kong. It engaged
actively in business. It owned more than 700
houses for rent and many shares in foreign
banks. It had millions of dollars deposited in
the banks which earned fabulous interests.

5. Hong Kong cemeteries belonging to


the Protestants, Catholic and
Muslims, that of the Protestants was
the most beautiful because of its
well-groomed plants and clean
pathways. The Catholic cemetery was
most pompous , with its ornate and
expensive mausoleums and
extravagantly carved sepulchres. The
Muslim cemetery was a simplest,
containing only a little mosque and
tombstones with Arabic inscriptions.

Thanks for listening


Prepared and Reported by ;
Angelica E. Oliveros.
BSIT4C

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